Business Description
By the left entrance of the Sambhavnath temple, men and women sit making a paste of kesar and chandan for their daily puja. This intoxicating fragrance of saffron and sandalwood wafts to an adjacent staircase—one that leads to the entrance of the granth bhandar and into the antechamber. A depiction of the Nava Padas—the principal nine elements of Jainism—made in pure emerald can be found here along with a rare painting of Prithviraj Chauhan with his samantas or vassals. This area merges into a corridor that leads to two rooms. Each room holds an exhaustive collection of manuscripts written in Sanskrit or Prakrit on paper and taadpatra or palm leaves. Cross the rooms and the entrance to the last chamber of the library is a window-sized door. All of 2.5 ft in height, one has to go on all fours, as if in submission to the divine, to pass through. More manuscripts are found here along with a hollow pillar, a significant element of Jain lore. This pillar, it is believed, contains riches in the form of ancient texts and gems, and will be rendered open by a divine force in times to come. Given the nature of the manuscripts, not everyone is provided access to the main chambers of the library. “It is easy to form misconstrued opinions based on anything that is read and therefore, we only allow scholars, academicians or others who have sought prior permission to enter the library and sift through its contents,”says Mahendra Singh Bhansali, president of the Jaisalmer Jain Trust, an organisation which has been looking after the upkeep of the library since the last 52 years. The library is revered as much for the scholarly teachings it houses as it is for its architecture and aura. Jinendra Prabhashriji, a Jain monk and renowned researcher of the Aagams, was deeply moved by the sense of serenity she experienced after visiting the granth bhandar. “The walls of the chamber emanate coolness even under the blazing Jaisalmer sun. We meditated for a few minutes and our minds felt at peace when we finally left,” she said. Other noteworthy figures such as Dr Rajendra Prasad and Jawaharlal Nehru have also visited this library.
Thanks!
For More Details
Promotional video examples
